


Hold on

by redangeleve



Series: Perfect ( A collection of Obikin Mpreg Stories) [18]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alpha Anakin Skywalker, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childbirth, I will go on with my mission to write more pregnant Obi-Wan stories, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Obi-Wan Kenobi, Planet Tatooine (Star Wars), Sick Luke Skywalker, Worried Anakin Skywalker, Worried Obi-Wan Kenobi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:14:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29995113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redangeleve/pseuds/redangeleve
Summary: It warmed his heart to see that Luke felt for him, but at the same time it scared him. If Anakin didn't come back in time, Obi-Wan would be all alone with the little boy during labor. For the life of him, he didn't want his son to see him like this, but if the contractions got worse, the Jedi wouldn't be able to keep his control. One more time, he carefully groped for the bond with Anakin, but apparently his mate was still too far away for him to feel anything more than the bright presence of the Alpha. Nevertheless, Obi-Wan sent out a call and pleaded him to hurry up, hoping anxiously that perhaps Anakin could hear him.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Perfect ( A collection of Obikin Mpreg Stories) [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805170
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	Hold on

**Author's Note:**

> It's time for another Obikin Mpreg Story. This one is less fluff and more angst, but I promise there will be a happy ending for our little family. As usual feedback would be really appreciated.

"The fever still hasn't dropped." Anakin looked down worriedly at the little boy in bed. Although it was pleasantly cool in their underground dwelling, the little one's cheeks were unnaturally red and his reddish-blond curls clung damply to his little head. A few minutes ago he had fallen into a restless sleep, yet his little face was tense and he kept whimpering miserably. 

Damn it, this couldn't go on. They had to do something. Their son had been sick for two days and he still didn't seem to be over the worst of it. It was not uncommon for people on Tatooine to fall ill with sand fever during their childhood, and usually most of them survived without any damage. Nevertheless, the fever attacks shouldn't be underestimated. Too high a fever could lead to seizures or dehydration. The only problem was that Anakin and Obi-Wan ran out of medicine since tonight. 

Theoretically, there was no difficulty in getting supplies in the next town, but the trip there took several hours, and because of the special circumstances, Anakin wanted to avoid leaving Obi-Wan and their son alone on the moisture farm at all costs. In recent months, there had been repeated raids by Sand People on the scattered settlements in the wasteland, and although he knew Obi-Wan knew how to defend himself, in his current condition he was much more vulnerable than usual. Taking his family with him, however, was not an option either. There simply wasn't enough room for everyone together on their only vehicle, a speeder bike welded together from scrap metal. As things stood, Anakin didn't have much choice.

"I'll go to Mos Espa and get the medicine," he finally explained his decision to his mate. Obi-Wan's gaze moved from their son tossing and turning in bed to Anakin's face, then he nodded silently. His presence in the Force flickered with worry and primal fear, and the smell he gave off was the sour scent of an unsettled Omega. It was more than obvious that he did not want Anakin to leave, but their son's life was at stake, so Obi-Wan forced himself to finally release his own emotions into the Force. 

"Be careful," he admonished his partner as he turned away to retrieve the windproof cloak that hung on a hook on the wall. "The sandstorms are treacherous this time of year," he said.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of myself. And I promise you I'll be back in time." In a tender gesture, Anakin placed a hand on the Omega's bulging belly and sent out the Force after their unborn child. Immediately, the baby responded with a flash of its fresh and warm Force signature. It was almost as if it recognized its father. Now, so close to delivery, his presence was clearly felt. The day before their son had fallen ill, Obi-Wan had begun gathering all the blankets, pillows, and clothing they had and carried them to their bed. A sure sign that it wouldn't be long before the baby came. 

Kark, this was not how Anakin had imagined it. 

He had always dreamed of a safe and spacious home for his family, not of their children being born on a poor moisture farm on Tatooine. But fate had decided otherwise. Whenever he struggled with their life, Obi-Wan reminded him how lucky they were to still be alive. Most of their friends were dead, others in exile just like themselves. After the Chancellor showed his true colors and the clones turned on the Jedi, Anakin and Obi-Wan had been left to flee as well. Of course they had wanted to fight and defend the Republic, but the superiority had simply been too great. And although Anakin had sworn never to return to Tatooine, the desert planet had seemed the safest place to escape the omnipresent eyes of the self-proclaimed Emperor.

Without the hormone injections that had suppressed Obi-Wan's cycle until then, his body once again answered the call of nature, and it wasn't long before he finally went through the first heat he had had since his youth, which promptly did not go without consequences. Having taken nothing more from the temple than the clothes they wore on their bodies, their financial resources were few and the worry of being recognized too great, so Obi-Wan had not visited a Medicenter once during the entire pregnancy. Thanks to the Force, everything had gone well, even if the meager life in the wasteland was hard and full of privation. But Obi-Wan had never complained, even during his pregnancy he had worked almost as hard as Anakin. So somehow they had managed to survive. Fifteen months ago, their son had been born in the very bed he now slept in, and barely eight months after that, Obi-Wan had discovered he was pregnant again. As much as they still feared for the fate of the galaxy, it still seemed as if they had found a little piece of happiness here.

Until Luke had then suddenly fallen ill two days ago.

"I hope your daughter has more patience than you," Obi-Wan replied with a forced smile, placing a hand on his mate's and joining him in feeling their child's movements. 

"I'm sure she will," Anakin returned, playfully optimistic. "She is also your daughter, after all." With those words, he leaned forward, wrapped his arms around the Omega, and kissed him on the forehead. "I'm going to drive like the wind. Before you know it, I'll be back."

Obi-Wan let out a shaky breath, then melted into the other man's embrace, allowing himself to draw strength and confidence from Anakin's presence once again. "May the Force be with you, my love."

"And with you, my heart."

XXXXXX

Although the heat was oppressive and sweat poured from his every pore, Obi-Wan stood in front of their hut and watched Anakin until the speeder bike disappeared into the horizon. Only then did he laboriously descend the steps to the entrance of their dwelling. His back was really killing him today. No matter how he twisted and turned, it kept pulling and tugging at his lower back. In recent weeks, it had become increasingly difficult to find a position where he wasn't in pain. When standing and sitting, the pressure of the baby on his pelvis and bladder was almost unbearable, and when he tried lying down, the weight of the baby pressed on his spine and pinched his nerves, but today it was worse than ever. On top of that, he hadn't slept for practically two days because of Luke's illness. His head was pounding, there was an agonizing pressure behind his eyes, and he felt exhausted, but resting was still out of the question. 

The first thing he did when he entered their underground home was to check on their son again. The little boy was awake when Obi-Wan came to his bedside. Big blue eyes looked at him glazed over as he sucked his thumb to calm down. He had kicked the blanket to the foot of the bed so he was only in his shirt and diaper in front of him, yet the little boy gave off a heat like a furnace.

"Hey, little one," his father greeted him with a smile. "I'm glad you woke up. It's time to have another drink."

The bottle Obi-Wan handed the boy was filled with water that had been mixed with an electrolyte solution. Since Luke had hardly eaten anything since he had gotten sick, this at least provided him with the bare necessities. At least he was lucid enough to drink and he actually seemed to have a mighty thirst. Greedily, the boy put the dummy in his mouth and immediately began to suckle, so that within no time he had already emptied a third of its contents. "Slow down, my heart," Obi-Wan chided his son as he gently brushed a few sweaty strands from his face. "Or your stomach will hurt afterwards."

Of course, the boy didn't yet understand what his father wanted him to do, so he drank another third in record time, then the little boy lowered the bottle and held out his arms to Obi-Wan instead. "Da!" he whined softly, sounding so miserable that Obi-Wan lifted him out of bed and sat him on his lap. 

"It'll be all right," he comforted the boy. "Papa will be here soon with your medicine."

For a while he just sat there, cradling Luke in his lap, trying to get him to go back to sleep, but every time the little boy's eyes grew heavy and Obi-Wan tried to put him back to bed, the boy would startle again and cling to his tunic, crying, so his father finally gave it up and lay down on the bed beside him. Then they would just take a nap together. It was still too hot to go outside and check the vaporizers anyway. So Obi-Wan might as well get some sleep.

XXXXXX

He awoke eventually to the sound of the wind howling as it rattled the front door. How long he had slept, Obi-Wan could not say. In their dwelling the always same half-darkness prevailed, but when he had fallen asleep, there had only been a lukewarm breeze. Now the wind had developed into a full-blown storm. With a groan, the Jedi Master sat up carefully so as not to wake his still sleeping son. He could only hope that Anakin was still in the city. Withstanding a sandstorm on a speederbike was anything but a small matter.

A gust of wind blew by, whistling shrilly, and drove a cloud of sand inside from under the door, causing Obi-Wan to struggle to his feet. He absolutely had to seal the opening, or sooner or later they would have a whole mountain of sand in their dwelling. Without thinking twice, the Jedi Master picked up one of the rags Anakin used when he was screwing on one of his tinkering projects and walked to the door with it. However, as he bent down to press the rag against the crack in the door, a sudden sharp pain ran through him.

No, no!

Horrified, Obi-Wan noticed something inside him tearing, then in one fell swoop it became very wet in his pants. Oh gracious Force ... Obviously the amniotic sac had torn. As much as he resisted the thought, the child would come now, whether he liked it or not. Just don't panic. As calmly as possible, Obi-Wan breathed in and out until he got his emotions back under control, then with shaky fingers he stuffed the rag into the crack of the door before slowly getting back to his feet, bracing his hands against the wall. 

How long had Anakin been gone? If Obi-Wan could trust his gut, it was no more than three hours. Probably he would need at least again the same time, until he had managed the way back. Provided that he could drive at all in the sandstorm. Luke's birth had taken twenty-six hours from the first contractions to the moment Anakin had finally held their son in his arms. At the time, it had seemed almost endless to Obi-Wan, and he would have given anything to have the baby born faster. This time, he fervently hoped that their child took at least as much time as his big brother had. 

"Da?" Apparently the shock he'd felt when his water had broken so abruptly had triggered a tremor in the Force that had woken Luke up. The feverish boy sat swaying in bed, looking at Obi-Wan with wide eyes. 

"It's all right, little one," the Omega reassured his son. "Daddy was just scared. That's all." It was an uncomfortable feeling walking with the wet clothes on, yet Obi-Wan tried not to let on as he walked over to Luke and placed a hand on his forehead examiningly. "I think we need to renew your calf wraps again," he said more to himself than to the child. "And after that, you try to eat something."

It was a difficult matter to remove the boy's old wraps and replace them with new ones, as Luke squirmed like a worm, but while he was at it, Obi-Wan immediately took a look inside the little one's diaper, only to find that it was dry as dust. Worried, his father shook his head. It wasn't a good sign that the boy wasn't urinating. The fever seemed to be burning up all of Luke's fluids, so he was excreting virtually nothing. So Obi-Wan filled a new bottle with electrolyte solution and pressed it into his son's hand before he began to cook him a porridge of grains and dried berries. He was almost finished when a dull pain in his lower abdomen made him freeze in motion. Instinctively, Obi-Wan pressed one hand against the spot while holding onto the kitchen counter with the other as the contraction ran through him.

'Breathe. Breathe slowly,' he implored himself. Involuntarily, Obi-Wan groped for his bond with Anakin and sent him a silent cry for help, but though he kept his shields lowered, he failed to get a response from his mate. With a groan, Obi-Wan turned his attention back to himself and let the contraction roll through him. Then it was over again and he could continue in his work. When Obi-Wan stepped up to Luke'sbed again, the boy was lying on his side, too weak to continue sitting, so Obi-Wan pulled the child back onto his lap to feed him the now cooled porridge. But Luke did not want to eat. Stubbornly, the little boy pressed his lips together and shook his head back and forth, while his father patiently talked to him and tried to encourage him to at least try the porridge. In the end, Obi-Wan managed to get three spoonfuls into the child's mouth until he finally gave up. The main thing was that the boy drank the bottle dry, and after making sure he did, he left his son in peace. 

Instead, Obi-Wan finally slipped out of the sullied clothes and merely wrapped himself in Anakin's spare cloak, which he closed in the front with a cord. This way, even in the Alpha's absence, he could surround himself with his scent and feel protected and safe. Obi-Wan knew he should eat something in light of the upcoming birth, but the worry for his mate and their son dried his throat and made it impossible to choke down a single bite. Worriedly, the Omega listened to the howling of the wind that blew around their dwelling with undiminished strength. Hopefully the vaporizers would withstand the storm. Otherwise, to make matters worse, they would run out of water.

Another contraction made him cringe and for a moment drove all other thoughts away. Heavens, when would Anakin finally return? While there wasn't much the Alpha could do for him in this situation, his presence alone would help Obi-Wan bear the cramping pain more easily. As best he could, Obi-Wan kept his shields closed to keep Luke from feeling his pain. At the same time, he instinctively focused on his breathing, letting the air slowly flow out of him along with the pain until he got through the contraction. Then he stood up and began to walk aimlessly around their dwelling. It wasn't big, just two rooms with a small wet room, but the urge to move was so strong that Obi-Wan couldn't help but run around like a rancor in a cage.

Only the next contraction forced him to stop again. Without thinking about it, Obi-Wan crouched down and massaged soothing circles on his hard belly under whose skin their child twisted and writhed, eager to finally escape the tight prison.

"Not yet, little one," he pleaded the baby while simultaneously seeking to connect with him through the Force. "Please, not yet."

But nature had already begun to take its course, so no one could stop it. After the contraction subsided, Obi-Wan stood back up and walked back to the bed, where he was relieved to find that Luke had finished the entire bottle. Still, the boy made no effort to go back to sleep. Normally Luke was a lively child who could hardly sit still, but at the moment he was too weak to leave the bed by himself. To calm him down and distract himself from the contractions, Obi-Wan began reading a book with the child that Anakin had brought from the city a few weeks ago. It wasn't really challenging, a simple picture book with everyday objects, shapes and colors for the child to learn to name. So far, Luke could only say a few words, like "da," "pa," "ouch," "no," and "yes" in Basic, but he still loved his books. Only today he barely managed to lift his head to follow the colorful pictures.

However, when Obi-Wan was seized by a new contraction and stiffened for a moment, Luke looked at him intently. "Da ouch?" he asked with empathy.

"Yeah, daddy's hurt," Obi-Wan admitted as the pain subsided and he was able to relax again. "But don't worry, I'll soon be fine."

It warmed his heart to see that Luke felt for him, but at the same time it scared him. If Anakin didn't come back in time, Obi-Wan would be all alone with the little boy during labor. For the life of him, he didn't want his son to see him like this, but if the contractions got worse, the Jedi wouldn't be able to keep his control. One more time, he carefully groped for the bond with Anakin, but apparently his mate was still too far away for him to feel anything more than the bright presence of the Alpha. Nevertheless, Obi-Wan sent out a call and pleaded him to hurry up, hoping anxiously that perhaps Anakin could hear him.

They spent a good hour looking at picture books, then Obi-Wan told the boy a story while at the same time trying to estimate in his mind the intervals between each contraction. There were still about five minutes between each contraction, but already Obi-Wan thought he could feel them growing in intensity with each one. When Luke finally fell back asleep, the Jedi began pacing the room again. On the one hand to get the restlessness in him under control and on the other hand to let gravity do its part to make the child slide deeper. He interrupted his wanderings only when a new contraction rolled in. Then he squatted down and instinctively breathed in the pain until it subsided. Only when the pressure against his pelvis became stronger and stronger, Obi-Wan allowed himself to return to the bed.

He knew that if he lay down now he would not be able to get up again, but if he didn't he risked his strength failing him and his legs eventually buckling away. The pillows and blankets around him gave off a pleasant, familiar smell and spoke of safety and protection as he lay down in the center of his nest until he found a reasonably comfortable position. Luke lay limp and warm at his side and didn't even flinch when his father slid next to him. Still, Obi-Wan tried to be as quiet as possible.

The next contraction that hit him felt different than the one before, and Obi-Wan could only suppress a groan with difficulty. The urge to push became stronger and stronger, but still the Omega did not dare to give in to his instinct. Although he had all the necessary utensils within reach to deliver the child alone if necessary, he still hoped that Anakin would keep his promise and come in time before the actual birth began. The Force around him was in such turmoil that he did not manage to look for the Alpha's presence one more time. Instead, Obi-Wan pressed his heels into the bed and surrendered to his fate. 

The next contraction came in with the force of a tornado and made him involuntarily claw his fingers into the sheet beside his body. His breath caught in his lungs and he had to force himself to breathe into the pain while simultaneously tensing his muscles. It seemed endless until the pain reached its peak, then it finally subsided and Obi-Wan was able to relax again. Breathing heavily, the Omega lay in the pillows, trying to regain his strength, when suddenly he heard the sound of an engine coming frantically closer. Brakes screeched as the vehicle was brought to an abrupt stop, then the engine died. Instead, footsteps could be heard hurrying down the stairs. The door opened at the same moment that the next contraction hit Obi-Wan. Still, he felt a wave of relief rise within him as he saw Anakin rushing toward him.

The Alpha was bruised, dirty, and covered in dust from top to bottom, yet the sight of him was the most beautiful thing the Omega could imagine at that moment.

"What took you so long?" groaned Obi-Wan, breathing heavily, as Anakin dropped to his knees beside the bed and took one of his sweaty hands in his.

"Sorry, I got held up," the Alpha returned regretfully before pressing his lips to the back of Obi-Wan's hand. The Omega knew his mate well enough to know there was more that the latter wasn't telling him, but he didn't get to ask him further. The contraction rolling in grew stronger and stronger, so instead he merely squeezed Anakin's fingers as he concentrated fully on pushing. The pressure on his pelvis increased more and more, eliciting a moan from his lips as the pain reached its peak and Obi-Wan's whole body tensed. Head on his chest, the Omega squeezed his eyes shut. Anakin's voice seemed to come from very far away, yet he clung to it with all his might. "You are so brave, my heart. You are doing wonderfully. Soon it will be done."

It seemed to take an eternity for the contraction to subside, then Obi-Wan was finally able to sink back into the pillows. "The medicine?" he asked breathlessly. 

"Got it with me," the Alpha replied, using the time between contractions to get up and wash his hands in a bowl on the kitchen counter. Returning to the bed, he first checked Luke's temperature with his hand on his forehead, at the same moment using a Force suggestion to make him sink deeper into sleep before pressing the injector against his neck with a fever-reducing stim. The boy twitched only briefly as the needle pierced his skin, then relaxed again and slept peacefully.

Now Anakin finally had time to care for his mate.

With the first child, the Alpha had almost gone crazy with panic when the contractions began, and although Anakin's presence in the Force expressed clear concern, he was outwardly completely calm as he sat in the space between Obi-Wan's legs and checked to see how far the labor had progressed. The little head was not yet visible, but as Anakin carefully checked inside his mate's entrance, he could already feel the hard skull. The cervix was completely open and the head only had to pass the pelvic bone. Not much longer and the child would be there.

Now that he knew Luke could no longer hear him, Obi-Wan allowed himself to express his pain without shame, groaning loudly as the next contraction approached. He again reached out to his mate to seek comfort, and Anakin took his fingers without hesitation as he continued to keep an eye on Obi-Wan's opening. "Push, yes. That's it, my heart. Don't stop. You're doing great. I can see the hair already."

Teeth clenched tightly, chin pressed against his chest, Obi-Wan struggled through the contraction, all the while squeezing Anakin's hand so hard he thought he could hear the bones crack. The pain intensified until Obi-Wan thought he couldn't take it anymore and he began to gasp and whimper, then the contraction slowly subsided and he was able to relax again.

"It's almost there. Almost there. You're doing so well, my heart, so well. Not for much longer. I promise. Then you can rest."

Obi-Wan didn't have the strength to respond. Instead, he lay in the pillows with his eyes closed, gathering strength for the next contraction. But he was not allowed a long break. Already he felt his muscles tense as the pain built up again. His belly grew hard and his legs began to tremble helplessly as the contraction captured him and took over his entire world.

"Yes, wonderful. That's it. Push, Obi-Wan! Don't let go! I can see her! Oh Force, I can see her! Once more, come on one more push!"

The pain increased immeasurably as the skull pressed against his pelvis with all its might, as if to break it, then finally passed the obstruction and pressed against his opening instead. Although Obi-Wan knew that a newborn's head was tiny, at that moment it felt huge. Impossibly, he would never manage to push the child out. Then the contraction was over and the baby slid back in.

Gasping with exertion, Obi-Wan fell backward. His whole body shook and trembled, and he was so exhausted that he would have preferred to give up. "I can't go on," he whispered harshly. 

"I know," was Anakin's sympathetic reply. "But you have to. One more time. You can do this. I know you can."

Defensively, Obi-Wan shook his head. It was too much. The contractions, the pressure, everything. But he knew he had no choice. He had to go through it, even if it cost him all his strength. The next contraction was the worst Obi-Wan had gone through that day. With the force of nature, it overcame his body and pressed the small head against his ring of muscles until he thought he was about to be torn apart. A guttural cry escaped his lips as the pressure finally became overwhelming, then suddenly it was over and the head slid out.

"There it is Obi-Wan. The head is there. I wish you could see her. She has so much hair. Just one more time, my heart. One push and it's done."

Obi-Wan noticed tears running from his eyes. Whether from exhaustion, pain, or gratitude, he couldn't tell. The contraction that now overcame him was no less painful, and it was once again a hard strugle to get the little girl's shoulders free, but when he had done so, the child slipped out of him as if of its own accord, and from there directly into the waiting arms of its father. 

"She's here! And she's beautiful! Look how perfect she is!"

With cheeks flushed with pride, Anakin lifted the bloodied, smeared child upward for Obi-Wan to see. The girl, still connected to him by the umbilical cord, had her eyes closed and her face scrunched into a grimace. The arms rowed helplessly back and forth, unaccustomed to no longer having protective walls around them. Then the child made its first cry. 

"It's okay, I'm here. Your Papa's here," Anakin tried to reassure the infant as he laid him on a towel and clamped the umbilical cord. "You'll be able to go to your mommy in a minute." The baby was still wailing as his father cut the cord, then he wrapped his daughter additionally in a blanket and handed her into Obi-Wan's waiting arms. 

"Hey, you," Obi-Wan whispered warmly as he looked at the little creature, still making angry noises. Unlike Luke, who had had nothing more than a light fuzz on his head at birth, the little girl's head was covered all over with dark hair. She was perfect, just as Anakin had said. Strong lungs, ten fingers and ten toes, and obviously a healthy appetite, for no sooner was she born than she began to turn her head searchingly. But Obi-Wan first had to push out the placenta, only then could he let his daughter have her way. It was the oldest and most primal instinct of man when the baby found Obi-Wan's nipple as soon as he put her on it and immediately began to suckle.

At first the Omega sucked in a painful breath, but shortly thereafter his body responded as nature had intended and let the nutritious foremilk spill out. Already in the last days a few transparent drops had seeped out of his nipples again and again, but only now the milk flow really got going. All of a sudden it was quiet in the room and Obi-Wan finally allowed himself to relax after the exhausting hours while he watched his little daughter drinking for the first time. She was still a little awkward about it and kept choking, but Obi-Wan was confident she would get the hang of it in the next few hours. They always did. Aside from the fact that breast milk was the best food for a newborn, breastfeeding had other benefits as well. Not only was the act important in cementing the bond with his child, but the regular stimulation would also help his body heal faster from the rigors of childbirth. 

At the moment, Obi-Wan was completely exhausted, but at the same time, so many happy hormones were buzzing through his body that sleep was out of the question. When Anakin had washed himself and had disposed of the bloody cloths with the placenta, he could also finally join his family. In order not to disturb the still sleeping Luke, Anakin sat down on Obi-Wan's free side, then he kissed first the baby, then his mate on the forehead. Now that the Omega could think clearly again, he spotted the many small bruises covering Anakin's face. His lower lip was split open and he had a long scrape on his forehead and a dark bruise on his left cheekbone.

"Are you okay? "Obi-Wan asked worriedly.

"Actually, I should ask you that," Anakin replied with a rueful smile. "After all, it's you who just had a baby."

"I'm fine," Obi-Wan replied honestly. "Tired, but fine. Now what actually happened out there?"

"On the way back, not only did I have to fight the sandstorm, I had an unpleasant run-in with Tusken Raiders," Anakin explained. "They shot one of their energy sticks at the speeder bike and caused a short circuit, sending me over the handlebars."

"Then you hurt yourself in the process?" echoed Obi-Wan, sympathetically stroking his mate's bruised cheek with his hand.

"Among other things," Anakin admitted. "And when I fought the Tuskens off. The problem was, though, that the short circuit caused a couple of contacts to burn out. I could feel your pain through our bond the whole time, and there was nothing I could do. It would have taken too long if I walked. In the end, I had to take the spare parts out of my hand to get the speeder bike running again."

Only now did Obi-Wan notice that two fingers of Anakin's metal hand were sticking out stiffly, apparently no longer connected to the neurotransmitter.

"I'm sorry," he said, genuinely touched. 

"Don't be," Anakin replied with a warm smile. "If I had to, I would have gladly given my whole arm to come back to you. Thank the Force I made it just in time." Tenderly, his fingers ran through the baby's soft hair. The small girl lay now completely quietly at Obi Wans breast. Though she had stopped drinking by now and her regular breathing testified that she was asleep, she still didn't seem ready to let go of the nipple.

"Seems she was in more of a hurry to get to us than we thought," Obi-Wan noted as he looked pensively down at the newborn. 

"The main thing is that you're okay," Anakin pointed out, kicking his shoes off his feet before lifting his legs onto the bed and making himself comfortable next to his mate. "I can't wait to hear what Luke has to say to his little sister," he said.

"Best to let him sleep for now," Obi-Wan countered as he checked the temperature on Luke's forehead with his free hand. Thank the Force, the fever had dropped due to the stim, and he seemed to finally be getting the restful sleep he needed to get better. "Tomorrow will be early enough to introduce the two of them to each other."

In a protective gesture, Anakin put an arm around his mate and their newborn daughter before finally saying, "I love you."

"And I love you," the Omega replied, then nestled his head under Anakin's chin, enjoying the feeling of being protected and cared for. While the galaxy might still be dominated by darkness, a new, bright light had come to them that day. A new hope for a better future. That's what Obi-Wan prayed for as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, and he was sure Anakin felt the same way.


End file.
